It was Mikaela McCarty's night to shine as the Sand Creek High School girls basketball senior stepped on her home court Tuesday for Senior Night. McCarty, along with fellow senior Haley White, celebrated a home victory against the Hudson Tigers, 58-31.

McCarty was the star of the evening, recording a double-double with 18 points and 12 steals, along with portraying a strong overall game that set the Aggies up for a strong, much-needed victory.

"Our team really needed this, and this is a great win for us in the latter part of the season," said Sand Creek coach Catherine Herriman. "Mikaela played an outstanding game and led us to victory."

The Tigers (3-16) struck first with a 3-point play from junior forward Brie Wilenius which would end up being the only lead that the Tigers would hold in the game. Sand Creek (5-13) scored the next 10 points and went into the second quarter with a 10-8 lead.

Defense was the highlight of the evening for the Aggies, as they forced 12 steals in the first half as a team, including a stretch in which Brielle Sartwell and McCarty forced four straight steals on four straight drives resulting in nine Sand Creek points. Sand Creek capitalized on a number of Tigers mistakes and went on a 14-0 run, resulting in a timeout from Hudson coach Leslie Godfrey and seeing the score climb to 24-8.

Hudson silenced the crowd with a 3-pointer from Brittany Johnston, but couldn't muster up much else and found itself down 31-13 at the halfway point.

"There isn't much to say other than we failed to put the ball in the bucket," said Godfrey. "We played really well in the first quarter and matched their intensity, but sort of fell off after that."

Sand Creek outscored Hudson in each of the first three quarters with the Tigers outscoring the Aggies 10-8 in the final period. Sand Creek led by as much as 29 points at the end of the third quarter.

Hudson refused to quit and finished on a strong note, outmuscling Sand Creek in both the rebound category and shots taken. The Tigers outrebounded the Aggies 12-8 in the final quarter. Sand Creek finished the game with 21 steals for the game and created 15 turnovers in the first half.

Also leading for Sand Creek was Sarah Wright with 14 points, eight rebounds and four blocks and Kaylee Benge with 10 points and five steals.

Leading for Hudson was Wilenius with 12 points and Lauren Lake, who added eight points and four rebounds.